Immigration Reading List, 10/21/11

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

1. Senate testimony on DHS oversight2. Senate testimony on agricultural labor shortages3. House testimony on ICE enforcement priorities and rule of the law4. House testimony on the STEM Act5. House testimony on administrative amnesty and border control efforts6. Latest issues of DOJ EOIR Immigration Law Advisor7. CRS reports on remittances to Cuba and immigration issues in the 112th Congress8. GAO report on quadrennial homeland security review9. Federal court actions in U.S. v. Alabama10.Canada: Report on contrasting trends in citizenship rates in the U.S. and Canada11.Sweden: Population statistics12.Australia: Demographic statistics

REPORTS, ARTICLES, ETC.

13. Two new reports from the Institute for the Study of Labor14. Two new reports from the Migration Policy Institute15. New working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research16. Ten new papers from the Social Science Research Network17. Canada: New working paper from CERIS18. Canada: Five new report from the Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative19. Two new papers from the National Foundation for American Policy20. "Immigrant Small Businesses in New York City"21. "All Together Now?: African Americans, Immigrants, and California’s Future"22. "The Future of Central America: Challenges and Opportunities of Migration and Remittances"23. "Jails and Jumpsuits: Transforming the U.S. Immigration Detention System—A Two-Year Review"24. "Secure Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of Demographics and Due Process"25. Israel: "Ruppin Index of Immigrant Integration in Israel"26. "Danish Political Culture: Fair Conditions for Inclusion of Immigrants?"27. "Migration and Surplus Populations: Race and Deindustrialization in Northern Italy"28. "A Theoretical Exposition of Migration Enforcement on Existing Migrant and Domestic Households"

BOOKS

29. Emigration and Political Development30. Climate Change and Migration: Security and Borders in a Warming World31. Major Problems in American Immigration History32. Becoming American?: The Forging of Arab and Muslim Identity in Pluralist America33. About Canada: Immigration34. Immigration and Schooling in the Republic of Ireland: Making a Difference?35. Irish: The Remarkable Saga of a Nation and a City

I have introduced targeted, bipartisan legislation to provide dairy farmers with access to the H-2A program, which also includes additional provisions tailored to the needs of dairy. My legislation would not only provide dairy farmers with a lawful avenue to obtain foreign employees for realistic periods of employment, but would also codify existing regulatory practice that allows other sectors, like sheepherding, to use the H-2A visa program.

Some oppose any expansion of the H-2A program, arguing that the H-2A system is imperfect, and permitting additional agricultural sectors to access it would only compound a bad situation. We all recognize that the H-2A program is imperfect. I hear concerns regularly from Vermont nurseries, apple growers, and others about the terrible inefficiencies and obstacles they face while trying to navigate a bureaucracy that is supposed to be helping them. But I believe that basic access to the H-2A program is a better option than what dairy farmers now have, which is no access at all and a status quo that drives workers into the shadows.

We need real solutions for farmers and farm workers. I continue to be a strong advocate of the long pending AgJOBS bill, which would solve not only the challenges that dairy farmers face, but would provide broad relief to farmers and farm workers across the country. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the AgJOBS bill is a carefully negotiated, fair approach that takes the needs of all stakeholders into consideration, some have chosen to put ideology over the legitimate needs of the men and women who work so hard to put food on our tables.
. . .http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=0bd5589287f5bbb3d2...

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Statement by Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer:

Some might ask, in these times of double-digit unemployment, why can't farms hire American workers?

Well, virtually every family farmer I have met in my travels across New York has aggressively tried to hire Americans to work in their nurseries, farms, and vineyards.

My friends in the Long Island Farm Bureau can tell you that more than half of their members pay more than $12-$15 per hour per worker, and actively seek to hire American workers. Many arrange for buses to pick-up and drop-off their employees.

But what these family farmers are finding is that--even in this difficult economy, even if they offer Americans twice or sometime three times the minimum wage and provide benefits--American workers simply won't stay in these jobs for more than a few days.

This is not an indictment of the agricultural industry or the American worker. It is simply a statement of fact that the average American will not engage in seasonal agricultural work that requires them to move several times a year throughout the country and work seven-days per week in extreme heat and cold.

So who is stepping in to take many of these difficult seasonal agricultural jobs? Immigrants who need these jobs to support the families they left behind in their native country.

Unfortunately, many of these immigrants working in agriculture are in illegal status. That means family farmers are often confronted with the Hobson's choice between hiring workers in illegal status or going out of business.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Priorities and the Rule of Law"

Statement by Committee Chairman Lamar Smith:

Two months ago the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will ensure that “appropriate discretionary consideration” be given to “compelling cases with final orders of removal.”

According to the administration, this review applies to 300,000 pending removal cases. This means close to 300,000 illegal immigrants could get to stay and work legally in the U.S. Why does the Administration continue to put the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of unemployed Americans?

The policies set forth in the ICE memos and DHS announcements claim to allow ICE to focus on immigration enforcement priorities. But that’s just a slick way of saying they don’t want to enforce immigration laws. ICE has shown little interest in actually deporting illegal immigrants who have not yet been convicted of what they call “serious” crimes.

With its memos and announcements, the Administration is sending an open invitation to millions of illegal immigrants. They know that if they come here illegally, they will be able to stay because immigration laws are not enforced.

Administration officials continue to brag about their “record deportation numbers.” But several sources, including the Washington Post, claim that the numbers are inflated. Even the President has stated that the numbers are “deceptive.”
. . .http://judiciary.house.gov/news/Statement%2010122011.html

"STEM the Tide: Should America Try to Prevent an Exodus of Foreign Graduates of U.S. Universities with Advanced Science Degrees?

Statement by Committee Chairman Lamar Smith:

Many people make a compelling argument: Why don’t we simply offer a green card to any foreign student who graduates from a U.S. university with an advanced STEM degree and wants to stay in the U.S.? After all, why would we want to educate scientists and engineers here and then send them home to work for our competitors?

But we should keep several points in mind. First, all graduate degrees are not the same. It takes an average of over seven years in graduate school for STEM students to receive a doctorate. A master’s can be earned in two years.

And when it comes to the proportion of persons who have applied for patents, those with doctorates far outpace those with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Sixteen percent of scientists and engineers with doctorates working in STEM fields have applied for patents, compared to only two percent with bachelor’s degrees and five percent with master’s degrees.

Second, a visa “pot of gold” could create an incentive for schools to aim solely to attract tuition-paying foreign students with the lure of a green card.

As the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services at the State Department has warned, “A school in the United States can be found for even the poorest academic achiever … Unfortunately, schools that actively recruit foreign students for primarily economic reasons, and without regard to their qualifications or intentions, may encourage such high-risk underachievers to seek student visa status as a ticket into the United States.”
. . .http://judiciary.house.gov/news/Statement%20STEM.html

1.Decoding the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause: Unlawful Immigrants, Allegiance, Personal Subjection, and the Law
By Patrick J. Charles
Government of the United States of America - Air Force
Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 51, No. 2, 2012http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1944018

5.Effects of Legal and Unauthorized Immigration on the US Social Security System
By Selcuk Eren, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College; Hugo Benítez-Silva; Eva Carceles-Poveda, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College Working Paper No. 689, October 2011http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1939380

7.The Paradox of Law Enforcement in Immigrant Communities: Does Tough Immigration Enforcement Undermine Public Safety?
By David Kirk, University of Texas at Austin; Andrew V. Papachristos, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia Law School; Tom Tyler, New York University Department of Psychology
Columbia Public Law Research Paper No. 11-281, October 4, 2011

Book Description: While policy makers, international organizations, and academics are increasingly aware of the economic effects of emigration, the potential political effects remain understudied. This book maps the nature of the relationship that links emigration and political development. Jonathon W. Moses explores the nature of political development, arguing that emigration influences political development. In particular, he introduces a new cross-national database of annual emigration rates and analyzes specific cases of international emigration (and out-migration within countries) under varying political and economic contexts.

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30.Climate Change and Migration: Security and Borders in a Warming World
By Gregory White

Book Description: In the modern era, two types of international migration have consumed our attention: politically induced migration to flee war, genocide, and instability, and migration for economic reasons. Recently, though, another force has generated a new wave of refugees-global warming. Climate change has altered terrains and economies throughout the tropical regions of the world, from sub-Saharan Africa to Central America to South and Southeast Asia. In Climate Change and Migration, Greg White provides a rich account of the phenomenon. Focusing on climate-induced migration from Africa to Europe, White shows how global warming's impact on international relations has been significant, enhancing the security regimes in not only the advanced economies of the North Atlantic, but in the states that serve as transit points between the most advanced and most desperate nations. Furthermore, he demonstrates that climate change has altered the way the nations involved view their own sovereignty, as
tightening or defining borders in both Europe and North Africa leads to an increase of the state's reaches over society. White closes by arguing that a serious and comprehensive program to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change is the only long-term solution. With an in-depth coverage of both environmental and border policy from a global perspective, Climate Change and Migration provides a provocative and much-needed link between two of the most pressing issues in contemporary international politics.

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31.Major Problems in American Immigration History
By Mae Ngai and Jon Gjerde

Book Description: Designed to encourage critical thinking about history, the MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN HISTORY series introduces readers to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics in American history. The collection of essays and documents in MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN IMMIGRATION HISTORY explores themes such as the political and economic forces that cause immigration; the alienation and uprootedness that often follow relocation; and the difficult questions of citizenship and assimilation. This text presents a carefully selected group of readings organized to allow readers to evaluate primary sources, test the interpretations of distinguished historians, and draw their own conclusions. Each chapter includes introductions, source notes, and suggested readings.

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32.Becoming American?: The Forging of Arab and Muslim Identity in Pluralist America
By Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad

Book Description: Countless generations of Arabs and Muslims have called the United States "home." Yet while diversity and pluralism continue to define contemporary America, many Muslims are viewed by their neighbors as painful reminders of conflict and violence. In this concise volume, renowned historian Yvonne Haddad argues that American Muslim identity is as uniquely American it is for as any other race, nationality, or religion.

Becoming American? first traces the history of Arab and Muslim immigration into Western society during the 19th and 20th centuries, revealing a two-fold disconnect between the cultures--America's unwillingness to accept these new communities at home and the activities of radical Islam abroad. Urging America to reconsider its tenets of religious pluralism, Haddad reveals that the public square has more than enough room to accommodate those values and ideals inherent in the moderate Islam flourishing throughout the country. In all, in remarkable, succinct fashion, Haddad prods readers to ask what it means to be truly American and paves the way forward for not only increased understanding but for forming a Muslim message that is capable of uplifting American society.

Book Description: Challenging the notions that immigrants steal jobs away from qualified Canadians, abuse the healthcare system, and refuse to participate in Canadian culture, this investigation delves into the realities of immigrating to Canada. Contending that the country’s historical immigration policies have always been fundamentally racist—favoring whites unless hard laborers were needed—the survey argues that current policies continue to favor certain kinds of applicants. The number of highly trained and educated professionals who have recently immigrated is highlighted, revealing how few of them find work in their area of expertise despite their potential for making significant contributions. Asserting that deeply ingrained racism, suspicion, and fear create obstacles for immigrants, this study also illustrates how Canada needs construction workers, nannies, and agricultural workers—but how very few immigrants who do this work qualify for citizenship. Underscoring the need to move beyond the
myths, this volume encourages an immigration policy that meets the needs of Canadian society.

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34.Immigration and Schooling in the Republic of Ireland: Making a difference?
By Dympna Devine

Book Description:Immigration and Schooling in the Republic of Ireland addresses the impact of recent rapid social and economic change on the education system. It provides detailed analysis and fascinating insights into the complex and varied responses of principals, teachers, parents, and children to working in newly multi-ethnic schools. It highlights the key role played historically by education in shaping the "Irish" nation and how this has governed responses to those who have come from the "outside." Devine offers a thought-provoking critique of current policies as Ireland’s attempt to position itself as a leading-edge knowledge economy influences both the nature of immigration and responses to immigrants in the education system.

This book will appeal to those working and studying in the field of education, sociology, social policy, and childhood studies. It will also be of interest to those who study social theory and the work of Pierre Bourdieu.

Book Description:Irish is the story of the mass migration from Ireland to Glasgow that took place in the wake of the Great Famine of the mid-nineteenth century. It is an epic account of the coming together of a nation and a city. This is the tale of those who escaped a nightmare existence in the poorest and most deprived country in Europe and changed the city of Glasgow forever. Irish brings to life the horrot of those grim days and reveals the unimaginable suffering endured as a result of the Potatoe Blight. It describes in vivid detail the hazards and hardships faced by those fleeing Ireland in search of a better life overseas, including a startling account of one of the most deplorable maritime crimes ever committed, the voyage of the SS Londonderry. The coming of the Irish to Glasgow had a bigger impact on the city than other event. Now, for the first time, the truth about this most significant and stirring episode is vividly unfolded. It tells of the contribution made by Irish labourers in Glasgow to the Industrial Revolution; reveals that the legendary football clubs of Celtic and Rangers may never have existed were it not for the migrant's arrival; and describes the "Partick War", and the occasion of the first-ever Orange Walk.

Congress: E-Verify, States, Republicans, 9/11
The House Judiciary Committee approved the Legal Workforce Act (HR 2164) to phase in E-Verify for all US employers over four years, with the smallest employers the last to be required to participate. Under the LWA, employers would use DHS's web-based system to verify the legal status of all new hires and stop completing I-9 forms; state E-Verify laws would be repealed. The LWA would allow employers to use E-Verify to check the legal status of job applicants as well as new hires.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3706_0_2_0

DHS: Secure Communities, I-9 Audits
There were an estimated 11 million unauthorized foreigners in the US in 2010, including 6.5 million or 60 percent Mexicans. Half of all unauthorized foreigners, and half of the unauthorized Mexicans, have been in the US at least a decade. There are about 4.5 million US-born children with at least one parent who is unauthorized.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3707_0_2_0

Labor, H-1B, J-1
The US unemployment rate averaged 9.1 percent in summer 2011, when there were about 14 million unemployed workers, including 6.2 million who were jobless six months or more. The average duration of unemployment was almost 20 weeks, and six million jobless workers were unemployed 27 weeks or more.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3708_0_2_0

Immigration, Population
The US had 40 million foreign-born residents in 2010, including 14 million new legal and unauthorized settlers who arrived since 2000; foreign-born residents were 13 percent of the US population. Some foreign-born US residents died and others left the US, so the foreign-born population rose by nine million in the past decade, from 31 million in 2000.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3709_0_2_0

Canada, Mexico
Canada admitted a record 280,000 immigrants in 2010, up from 265,000 in 2009. During the first quarter of 2011, immigration dropped to about 63,000, suggesting that Canada will just achieve its 2011 target of at least 250,000 immigrants. The Conference Board of Canada wants the government to raise the annual immigration target to 350,000 a year.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3710_0_2_0

EU: Population, Immigration
The EU's 27-member nations had 501 million residents in 2010 and are projected to have a peak 521 million residents in 2035. About 2.6 percent of EU residents are intra-EU migrants, such as Poles in the UK. Another four percent or 20 million are non-EU 27 nationals, such as Turks in Germany. The three largest groups of non-EU residents in the EU are Turks, Moroccans and Albanians.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3712_0_4_0

ASIA

China: Migrants; Hong Kong: Maids
China's household registration or hukou system generally requires residents to obtain public services in the city or village in which they are registered. In August 2011, just before schools were to reopen, Beijing authorities announced that 24 unlicensed private schools enrolling over 30,000 migrant children would have to close.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3717_0_3_0

OTHER

Australia: Asylum, Immigration
Australia and Malaysia in July 2011 signed an agreement under which up to 800 migrants who arrive illegally in Australia by boat after July 28, 2011 would be sent to Malaysia, where the UNHCR was to evaluate their asylum applications. In return, Australia would provide Malaysia with $316 million and accept 4,000 UNHCR-certified refugees now in Malaysia over the next four years.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3722_0_5_0

Africa: Libya, AMU
Libya. The 2.5 million migrants in Libya before a civil war broke out in February 2011 were over a third of the 6.5 million residents. Almost 700,000 foreigners left by summer 2011, including many Tunisians and Egyptians who returned home.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3723_0_5_0

Global: Population, Remittances, ILO
Population. The world's population reached seven billion in October 2011, double the world's 3.5 billion people in 1967. The population growth rate is 1.2 percent, every year adding about 83 million people or the population of Germany to developing countries. In 1967, the population growth rate was 2.1 percent, and both industrial and developing countries were growing.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3724_0_5_0

GFMD: Migration, Trade, and Development
The Global Forum for Migration and Development, launched after a 2006 discussion at the UN, aims to highlight best practices to protect migrants, to reduce the costs of labor migration, and to improve data and coherence between migration and development policies. The GFMD annual meeting rotates between industrial and developing countries, and is being held in Switzerland in 2011 and Mauritius in 2012.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3725_0_5_0

H-2A Reform, Cases, H-2B
Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the American Specialty Agriculture Act (ASSA, HR 2847) in September 2011 to provide up to 500,000 H-2C visas a year to foreign farm workers who could stay in the US up to 10 months a year. H-2C jobs would not have to be of a temporary or seasonal nature, so year-round dairy jobs could be filled by H-2C workers, but H-2C workers would have to leave the US after 10 months (sheepherders with H-2A visas are allowed to remain in the US up to three years).http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1643_0_4_0

I-9 Audits, Secure Communities
The Wall Street Journal on August 15, 2011 reported that I-9 audits were pushing some experienced unauthorized workers down the US job ladder, as employees with seniority at one employer must begin anew with another. Over 2,500 employers are expected to undergo I-9 audits in FY11, which means that ICE agents visit workplaces and review the information submitted by newly hired workers to ensure they are legally authorized to work in the US.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1644_0_4_0

E-Verify, States, Shortages
The House Judiciary Committee approved the Legal Workforce Act (HR 2164) to phase in E-Verify for all US employers over four years, with the smallest employers the last to be required to participate. Under the LWA, employers would use DHS's web-based system to verify the legal status of all new hires and stop completing I-9 forms; state E-Verify laws would be repealed. The LWA would allow employers to use E-Verify to check the legal status of job applicants as well as new hires.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1645_0_4_0

Canada, Mexico, Italy
Some 600 farms in Quebec hired about 7,000 temporary foreign workers from Mexico, Guatemala and Jamaica in 2011 under the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training (NOC C and D). The number of farms and workers participating in this alternative to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program between Canada and Mexico and the Caribbean has been increasing.http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1646_0_4_0

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985.
It is the nation's only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic,
fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States.